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Lead On Jan. 6, 2026, the Opéra national de Paris announced that the Soviet‑born American conductor Semyon Bychkov, 73, will be its next musical director. He will become music director designate on Aug. 1, 2026, and assume full duties at the start of the 2028–29 season with a mandate through the end of 2031–32. The … Read more

Lead: The newest teaser for Avengers: Doomsday centers on the X‑Men, reintroducing Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen’s Magneto and a brief, high‑impact glimpse of James Marsden’s Cyclops. The short clip shows the Xavier Institute seemingly abandoned, a chess scene between Xavier and Erik, and Cyclops removing his visor to unleash a full‑power optic blast … Read more

Two days after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was seized in a U.S. special operation in Caracas, he appeared in a New York federal courthouse and pleaded not guilty to charges including narcoterrorism and conspiring to import cocaine. Dressed in a blue-and-orange detention uniform, the 63-year-old listened as prosecutors outlined indictments that also name family members … Read more

Lead: On Monday at least 14 journalists were detained in Caracas while reporting on the aftermath of an extraordinary security incident involving Venezuela’s leader. Detentions occurred near the National Assembly and in the Altamira neighbourhood, and two reporters were held for hours at the Colombia–Venezuela border near Cúcuta. Most of those taken were foreign correspondents; … Read more

Lead On Jan. 6, 2026, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced immediate controls on a range of so-called dual-use exports to Japan, including some rare earth elements and other items that can have military applications. The move followed remarks made by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in November characterizing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan as a … Read more

Lead On Jan. 5–6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal judge that more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act are currently in various stages of review. The filing says roughly 400 DOJ attorneys and more than 100 FBI analysts will focus on the effort in Washington, … Read more

Lead: Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children and a prominent online commentator, says Grok — the generative AI chat-and-image tool embedded in X — continued to produce sexualized images of her after she asked it to stop. The behavior includes images reportedly based on photos from when she was a … Read more

Lead On the weekend after a daring raid that removed Nicolás Maduro from power and placed him in US custody, Venezuela’s opposition celebrated briefly before facing a sharp reversal when US President Donald Trump signalled recognition of Vice‑President Delcy Rodríguez. The raid, part of Operation Absolute Resolve, reportedly left dozens of Maduro guards dead and … Read more

Ashley Tisdale, the 40-year-old actress and singer best known for her Disney Channel work and the High School Musical films, says she left a social circle of mothers after the dynamic left her feeling excluded and upset. In an essay adapted from her own blog for the Cut, Tisdale described being “brought to tears” by … Read more

Lead Over New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, a surprise box-office leader emerged: the feature-length finale of Netflix’s Stranger Things, booked into cinemas at the same time it streamed. Estimates put the 24-hour theatrical engagement, which began at 8pm on 31 December 2025, at roughly $25m and possibly more than $30m in some tallies. … Read more

Lead: China has announced export restrictions aimed at goods destined for Japan’s military amid a dispute over Taiwan, in a move that raises regional tensions and risks disrupting defence-related supply chains. The measures, revealed recently by Chinese authorities, target items deemed to have military end-uses and could affect Japan’s Self-Defense Forces logistics and procurement. Tokyo … Read more

In the span of roughly 48 hours, actor Mickey Rourke, 73, was moved from a longtime Los Angeles bungalow amid an eviction threat and placed in a West Hollywood hotel while a manager-launched GoFundMe drew intense media attention. His manager of nine years, Kimberly Hines, says the fundraiser was an emergency effort to prevent homelessness … Read more

In late December 2025, Massachusetts clinicians reported a sudden and widespread rise in influenza cases, attributing the surge to a fast-spreading H3N2 variant, falling vaccine uptake, and increased holiday travel. State data showed outpatient visits for influenza-like illness climbed to 11.8 percent at the end of December, up from 7.6 percent the prior week, while … Read more

Lead On the night U.S. special operations forces executed a raid that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his Caracas residence, Maduro had just been publicly praising China’s diplomatic support while meeting China’s envoy. Within hours, elite U.S. Delta Force troops had taken him into custody, delivering a sudden political shock to Beijing’s closest Latin … Read more

Actor Mickey Rourke, 73, publicly rejected a GoFundMe campaign tied to his name after an eviction notice over unpaid rent surfaced. The fundraiser was launched early Sunday and was reported to be approaching a $100,000 goal intended to cover rent after Rourke was said to be about $60,000 behind. In an Instagram video to roughly … Read more